The Rising
by Silverbeast
Summary: Read for yourself. As the plot unfolds, it will have romance, violence, world domination, the downfall of empires, and the reformation of characters. I have created a dark new character to twist the hearts and minds of all. Enjoy.
1. The intruder

The Rising

Chapter 1: The intruder

Zim floated helplessly, his superior red eyes stinging slightly from the tinted goo. The curved glass of the tube-chamber distorted the already oddly shaped heads of the pitiful earthling humans. The noise of their rabble came to him muffled and almost indistinguishable. Who was out there? President Man, the earthling recording/communications network, an arrogant Professor Membrane… so many other human pig scum as well. Prominently, though, was a field trip from skool, hosted by the ever creepy Ms. Bitters but forcibly led by a gloating Dib.

"Tacos!" screamed GIR from a corner. His head and chest panels were open, spilling wires and bolts from odd angles. Professor Membrane had already begun to take him apart, and yet still GIR hadn't grasped the situation.

"Dad!" yelled Dib, running to his father. "I was right! I was right! An alien! Everyone sees him now! Everyone sees!" He cast an evil look towards Zim.

"You sure were, son." Professor Membrane stood upright and struck a manly pose. "An alien. Now, I must work IN THE NAME OF SCIENCE!" He crouched back down over GIR.

"Doom! Doom!" GIR was singing now. What an idiot, thought Zim, as dirty human faces pressed even harder against the glass, looking at him.

"Ha! Zim's an alien! I told you all! I told you all!" It was Dib. Hideous earth-child.

Zim felt an odd sensation, like he was spinning. Had they begun some sort of testing on him?

"Piggy! Tuna! Leprechauns!" GIR's high pitched whine seemed to add to Zim's dizziness. Zim wanted to tell him to shut up, but he did not speak. The spinning sensation grew stronger, and Zim thought he might be sick.

"This is my favorite show!"

Zim blinked and sat up. There was no tube-chamber, and no tinted goo. The crowd of disgusting earth humans was gone, and GIR was in one piece. "A dream!" said Zim. "All a dream! Ha ha! I am ZIM! No one could ever defeat me!"

"This is my favorite show!" repeated GIR, happily banging his arms on the computer's main control panel. The large monitor that covered half the wall was busily playing some pointless human entertainment presentation.

"No GIR!" shrieked Zim. "Bad! Bad!" He quickly turned the screen back to the house's security monitor, which displayed feed from spy cams placed strategically around the property.

"I want cheese!" GIR ran about the room, his arms flailing wildly. Zim ignored him, instead turning his attention to the top right of the screen. How long had he been asleep? Had he missed what he'd been waiting for? No. A shadow crossed the front yard, evading the sight of the gnomes. Quietly it went to the door, tampering slightly with the lock, and then slipping inside. Zim's eyes narrowed, and a smile etched itself across his face. With unusual grace and silence, he went to greet his intruder.

The shadow was perched on the couch, one arm draped across its back. The only light in the room came from the moon, whose rays filtered palely through the window panes. Zim arrived in darkness, stepping from the hover disc of the elevation tube. He crept smoothly to the living room, and stood between the shadow and the front door, as to prevent any escape attempts.

"So, DIB. You thought you could sneak into my base unnoticed, eh?" Zim flicked on the lights and leapt towards the couch. "Well think again! Once again, I've caught yo-you're not Dib!"

The figure on the couch crossed her arms and leaned forward. "Oh really? So very observant." She was Irken.

Zim backed against the wall. His pak sprouted spindly legs and carried him several feet towards the ceiling. "What are you doing here?" he demanded. "What are you doing in my base?" Unannounced Irkens had brought him troubles in the past.

"My mission and purpose are for none but myself to know," said the female. "My name is Miira. I have come from far to this place, under the impression that this planet and its general vicinity had not yet been inhabited by any Irken presence. It seems that I was mistaken, but since you are here, it makes no sense that I should set up my base without help or intelligence."

"I am the invader of this planet! It is my own to destroy. My mission. Mine! I would never give you help, mission stealer. I am INVADER ZIM!" Zim glared down at Miira.

"I am not here to steal your mission! And as far as I have been informed, no invader has been assigned to earth. I thought it was in fact undiscovered by the tallest."

"Well you were WRONG! I, Invader Zim, will annihilate the human race and take earth for the Irken Empire!"

Miira showed some sign of annoyance. "As I said, I have no interest in your mission, Invader Zim. And as you have shown no interest in helping me, I will be going. I'm sure we'll meet again sooner than either of us would like." The irken rose from the couch and made her way to the door. Zim dropped to the floor, landing in front of her.

"And what makes you think you are going anywhere, intruder?" His pak sprouted dozens of small blasters on either side of his head.

Miira's lips formed a sweet little smile. "Sleep well, Zim." She produced a strange gun-like device. With a low boom, a repressed shockwave hit the invader, and he felt himself collapse, unconscious.


	2. Transmission

Chapter 2: Transmission

Miira, despite her earlier appearance of flawless calm and coolness, felt like killing something. She stalked down the sidewalk in her human disguise, feeling her anger grow stronger. She arrived at her base, a house a short while from Zim's.

"PIR!" She yelled for her Primary Initialization of the Rising unit.

PIR came and stood at attention. "Yes my master."

"Open a channel with the main ship. I wish to speak to Captain Jebu."

"Yes my master."

PIR was off, and Miira quickly reprogrammed her skin to be its normal green and took out her contacts. Her wig compressed automatically into two nearly microscopic bumps on her antennae. She then evaporated on the spot, and materialized far below in her communications room. Jebu was already on the screen.

"Milady," said Jebu. Jebu wore a translator, as he was not irken and did not know the common language, Inversia, which could be understood by all. 'Milady' was an odd word, but it seemed respectful and was definitely better than the horrid title 'my tallest' that the translator used to automatically choose whenever it found itself speaking to a high rank irken. It had taken a lot of reprogramming to get it wiped from the dictionary chip in the translator's drive.

Jebu rubbed his claws against each other, as was his species' sign of submission.

"Milady," he said again, "How goes the mission?"

Miira sat in silence.

Jebu scratched his head. "Is earth secure? Can we count on success?"

Still Miira made no response.

"Milady?" Jebu drummed his claws on the control panel. He turned to his right. "Grog, I think the transmission froze. Come fix it!"

"Is this mutiny?" Miira's voice was steady and measured. It was a lulling hiss, and the quiet that ensued when she was finished was deafening.

Jebu was confused. "Miira?" he said, somewhat worried.

"Would you guess what I found today, upon landing? Go ahead. Guess."

Jebu opened his mouth, and closed it. Miira's eyes narrowed.

"I caught a strong signal from an irken voop. Using earth's human-made satellites, I triangulated the signal and investigated it. Can you guess where it was coming from?"

Jebu was getting the picture. "I assure you, Miira, um, milady, all of our scans-"

"IT WAS COMING FROM THE BASE OF AN IRKEN INVADER WHO IS FULLY INTIGRATED INTO EARTH'S SOCIETY. THE TALLEST HAVE A FULLY OPERATIONAL WAR BASE HERE. A WAR BASE! IF YOU ARE TRYING TO GET RID OF ME, PLUCK UP THE COURAGE AND CHALLENGE ME TO COMBAT."

Jebu was taken aback. "But the planet earth is not in the irken database!" he said. "They can't have an invader there. To them, it doesn't exist!"

Miira studied Jebu's expression. He seemed genuinely surprised, but she would still investigate this incident later.

"Get off that planet. If it is dangerous, we need to regroup and come up with a new plan." Jebu was trying to regain ground in the conversation.

"No," said Miira. "The invader is alone here, and it would take six months for any irken force to come to his aid. He seems to only be a small threat, but I will continue to observe him to be sure. I approximate that if we stick to our current plan, I can complete my mission in eight to ten earth days."

"Are you sure the invader's threat is that minimal?"

"Yes. And besides what I have already said, The Tallest have invested the majority of their fleet in stamping out that band of rebels, the Resistie. Even if they can spare part of their army to attempt to destroy us, in the six months it will take them to get here, we will have become unstoppable."

Captain Jebu nodded. "Very good, milady."

Miira cut the transmission. "PIR!" she said.

"Yes my master."

"Run a full depth scan on Invader Zim's base. I want to be able to see every inch of his lair, every speck of dust."

"Affirmative. I hear and comply."

Miira rubbed her hands together. She had to prepare for tomorrow.


	3. Hello Mira

Chapter 3: Hello Miira

He was alone in the dark with his failure and misery, and only the faint whir and blue glow of the lab machines to keep him sane. Zim felt himself drained of energy, and was utterly numb from the painkillers. The scientists, led by Professor Membrane, had opened him up in the early hours of the day. They mapped out his organs, and busily gave them odd and incorrect names as if planting a flag for their discovery. They hastily had sown him up at sunset, with full intention of dissecting him again the next day.

Zim groaned, and tried through the drugs to shut his stinging eyes. How long had he been here? Days? Weeks? In reality, he snickered, at least several months. A door opened at the far end of the room. He squinted through the tinted goo and could see a blurry human figure. It was Dib.

"Hello, Zim." Dib went directly to the alien and banged on the tube-chamber's glass. The sound echoed in Zim's mind. "Guess what? Tomorrow my dad is going to let me cut into your head personally. What do you think of that?" Dib pressed his forehead to the cylindrical tank, smiling ear to ear.

"Filthi- eart- humen- I- I-" Zim faltered into silence, somehow unable to piece together a coherent thought and put it into words. Dib laughed. Turning, he walked out of the room. Zim watched him leave. The door slammed, and Zim felt a sudden welling of fear and loneliness. The door slammed again. Zim blinked and looked at it. It slammed again. And again. And again…

"I'M SLAMMING DOORS WITH PIGGY!" It was morning. The warm sun streamed in through the windows, and Zim wasn't captive in a lab; he was lying down in the front of his own base.

"WEEEEEEEE!" GIR was screaming and running about with another one of those stuffed pig toys. SLAM. The front door looked like it might come off its hinges.

"GIR! Stop this immediately!" Zim stood up and brushed himself off. GIR was standing on one of the walls. "OK!"

Zim had an odd feeling, as if there was something he was missing, something he had forgotten. What could it be? He scrolled through his previous waking hours. He had been expecting Dib to sneak in and try to steal his newest invention… did Dib come? He couldn't remember. He quickly raced down to the lab. The leathery green tarp which covered his masterpiece still hung as he had left it. So Dib had not come. So what was he missing? He was sure that something had gone awry, but just what he could not recall.

"Skool!" he blurted suddenly. "That must be it. I'm late for SKOOL!" he dashed to the hover disk, flew up to ground level, and bolted through the door. He had to keep up his vital earthling boy appearance.

...

The hallways were empty, but Zim knew that somewhere lurking behind a corner, the hall monitor waited for him. He tread his path carefully, taking a different route then normal to shake the fiend from his trail. He stumbled into Ms. Bitter's room, and took his seat. Could it be that he had entered without drawing attention to himself? No. The whole class stared at him like grotesque earthling turkey birds. He had that feeling again, that he was missing something. But stronger still was the feeling that that something was in this room.

"Zim!" hissed Ms. Bitters. "Late, again?" Zim simply sat there and stared up at her.

"Well?" asked Ms. Bitters.

"Ms Bitters! Ms. Bitters! I know what he was doing!" Dib had jumped on top of his desk and was hopping from foot to foot.

"Sit down, Dib!" Ms. Bitters turned on him like a viper, but Dib had already launched into an explanation.

"He has this shiny grey box. Real alien technology! He's going to-"

"Dib," Ms. Bitters hissed.

"…in order to enslave the…"

"Dib!"

"…blow up the moon! And-"

"DIB! That's quite enough of that. I have to deal with you whining brats all year, and it's bad enough without adding in your sheer insanity, DIB. Now sit down, before I yank out your tongue through your left eye socket." With that, Ms Bitters returned to the front of the room.

"As for you Zim, because of your tardiness, you missed the ritual full class 'hello' to our new student. It seems you will have to say it by yourself. The new urchin's name is Miira. Say hello, so we can get the social decency portion of the class that our doomed society requires over with. Well, Zim? Do I have to yank your tongue out, too?"

Zim felt himself go stalk still. The intruder irken threat. That was what he had forgotten.

"Well, Zim?"

Somewhere in the back of the class, Miira sat, her eyes boring holes into the back of Zim's head.

"Hello, Miira."


	4. I've captured Zim's GIR

Chapter 4: I've captured Zim's GIR

-earlier that day-

Miira took a deep breath. Day one. Today should be simple, but success was highly critical to the mission. She needed to learn how the earth people learned; how they were raised, how they thought, how they saw the world. She had spent her six month space ride to earth studying its culture and history from scans, but she knew how incomplete scans could be. She would enter one of earth's many places of learning, and confirm or update her knowledge.

"PIR," she said. "How is the scan of Zim's base coming?"

PIR thought for a moment. "I have a complete scan of the first floor and the upper portion of the underground. I approximate the full depth scan will be complete in five earth hours."

"Is there any way to speed the process? I need that information as soon as possible."

PIR nodded. "Yes my master. Switching all power to the completion of the scan."

"Very good, PIR. I am off to an earthling skool." She touched her fingers to her forehead. "In case of an emergency, you know how to reach me."

She walked out into the world of humans, leaving PIR glowing in the dark.

…

"This is my favorite show!" GIR was sitting in the living room, watching an ugly monkey hop around on TV. He gave a mechanical laugh. "Whazzat?" He turned and looked out the window. Something was moving out there. He got up to take a look. "Squirrel!" He ran outside, and chased it down the side walk.

"Squirrelly! Squirrelly! SQUIRRELLY!" It was getting away.

"Come back, squirrelly!" GIR suddenly stopped. A pulsing light was coming from the nearest house, filling every window with its purple shine. "Oooooh. Pretty!" GIR ran to the door, threw it open, and went inside.

In the center of the floor stood a robot. It radiated purple, and beads of light flowed around bands on its legs and body. There was a strange insignia on its forehead, almost like a segmented spiral, that emitted a hypnotic pulsation of the purple glow.

"Pretty…" GIR was drawn to the insignia. He stepped forward and touched it…

"EAAAAAAH!" Electricity shot through GIR. He blacked out, fell over backwards, and had to reboot. When his eye lights flickered back on, the purple robot was standing over him, and a giant blaster had unwound from its arm and was pointed directly at his head. The robot was no longer glowing; the light had dimmed to its regular purple.

"Freeze and disarm yourself," it said. "You are an obstruction to the rising."

"Someone needs a hug!" GIR jumped up and threw his arms around the robot.

"OK…" the robot sputtered and retracted the gun back within its arm. It tried to push GIR away. "Get off me."

"I liiiiike you!" GIR said, now clinging to the top of the robot's head.

"Fantastic," the robot said sarcastically, and then pressed the insignia on its head. "Master! Are you there? I've… erm… captured Invader Zim's SIR."

GIR temporarily paused in the doom dance he was doing on the robot's head. "I'm GIR!" he said.

"All right… I've captured Invader Zim's _GIR_. Contact me as soon as you can with further instruction."

…

-later that day-

Dib had spotted his chance. It was recess, and the new girl was sitting on the chain link fence near the old oak trees. She was alone, which was odd, because she had quickly risen to popularity in school and in her initial hour she had been swamped with her brand new friends. All those friends were now playing their normal games, not even looking at her, as if she was invisible.

"Miira," said Dib, approaching her. He was struck for a moment by how pretty she was, with her purple in blue eyes and silky brown hair. "Miira, I need to warn you about Zim. He's dangerous!"

"Oh, that kid who was late for skool? Dim, you said his name was? What did he do? Rob a bank or something?"

"No! He's an alien! He wears that stupid disguise, but you can tell! Look at his skin!"

Zim wasn't actually around to look at, but Miira seemed to be thinking it over anyways. "Dim? An alien? Are you sure? I thought that was some kind of skin condition."

"No! See, I've been inside his base and-"

"Ah-HA!" Zim fell out of the nearest Oak tree. "I thought I might find you here, MIIRA. What is your plan? Do you think you can beat ME, at my own game? No one can defeat ZIM! Earth is mine to ruin!"

Miira's eyes widened. "Dim? What were you doing in that tree? And what are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb, Miira. I am ZIM, and I am here to betray you to my worst enemy, may he torment you as much as he does ME! HA HA HA HA!"

Miira blinked. "Your worst enemy is this kid?"

Zim's laughter slowly came to an end. "I- uh- yes…"

"Well I've had my fun for the day," said Miira blandly. She hopped down from the fence and began to walk off.

Zim shook Dib by the shoulders. "She's an alien! She's an alien! Soak her in water. Throw your earthling food in her face. Hinder her as you hinder me!"

Dib pushed him away. "Get off me! Miira is completely normal. I can tell. She has no horrible flaws like, oh, green skin and no ears."

"But you have not seen her ears! Her ear spot is covered by her wig!"

"You mean her completely normal ears are covered by her completely normal hair style," said Dib. Only, he thought, her hair wasn't completely normal. He liked the way it floated in the wind, and he was sure her ears were nice too…

"Stupid human! I will prove she is Irken. Wait and see. WAIT AND SEE!" Zim started laughing maniacally.

"Pft. Sure, Zim."

The bell rang, and it was time to go inside.


	5. Comfortably numb

Chapter 5: Comfortably numb

"And the light waves reflect off the grass, making it that putrid green. And the light waves reflect off that car over there out the window, and make it that ugly yellow. And they reflect off that dead roach, making it that disgusting brown. And they reflect off that- Miira! Put your hand down! I'm in the middle of my lecture."

"Ms. Bitters? I think we all get the point. Can you tell us about something… different?"

Ms Bitters leaned over menacingly. "Be quite, urchin. Could I tell you about anything different? What could possibly be more important than what I'm telling you right now?" The question was rhetorical, and the correct response from Miira would have been to look away in fright or shame, and maybe even to mutter some half hearted apology, but she ignored the instructor's tone.

"Anything would be better. Tell us about history. Tell us about art and culture. Tell us about technology. ANYTHING would be better than awful near-monotone rant you are forcing us to listen to."

An angry rattling sound came from the front of the room.

"MIIRA! In the hallway, now! See me after class."

Miira raised her eyebrows, got her back pack, and walked out. She took advantage of the last few minutes of class to contact PIR.

"Message received, PIR. Tag the GIR unit, wipe the base's location from his memory chip, and send him back."

"Yes, my master."

…

The bell rang for the end of the day, and after the first gush of people passed, Miira stepped back inside the classroom. The hallway was still crowded with kids from all over the school, every one trying insanely to get outside first. Dib had meant to wait for Miira, and talk to her when she got out, but he was swept away in the rapids of the madness.

…

After a mere five minutes, Miira emerged, looking slightly happy for herself. She walked outside, and looked up at the wide blue sky. She continued down the pavement a block or so and found a long brick wall to lean against. Reaching into her backpack, she pulled out her Ipod and put in her ear buds.

It wasn't really an Ipod, it just looked and felt exactly like one. In reality it was a standard irken audio playback device ( SIAP), but that morning she had instructed her base's computer to cloak and reconfigure it to look a bit more earthly.

Miira loved music. A lot of the culture on the planet she grew up on was based on it. No, she did not grow up on Irk, and her home planet's music was drastically different then that of earth, but it still was nice to listen to the songs earth had to offer.

She picked a song at random, and closed her eyes. She began to drift off with it playing in her ear. She could feel her mouth start moving, which probably meant she was singing.

_Just a castaway, I got lost at sea, oh_

_Another lonely day, with no one here but me, oh_

_More loneliness than any man could bear,_

_Rescue me before I fall into despair, oh_

_I'll send an S.O.S to the world_

_I'll send an S.O.S. to the world…_

Ever since she had become a full fledged part of the Rising, music took a strange effect on her. If she wasn't on her guard, she would get lost within herself, floating along with the melody. But she hardly ever guarded herself from it. She loved the feeling of being free from everything. It was then that she could think the most clearly, and then that she felt the most in sinc with the Rising. There were some negative aspects to it as well, like her mouth moving independently of her mind, but she didn't mind that as much, because normally that meant she was simply singing along.

…_I hope that someone gets my _

_Message in a bottle, yeah…_

…

Dib waited around the school a while, but finally started heading home. He was a bit disappointed that he didn't get to talk to Miira. It occurred to him then that he wouldn't have known what to say anyways. He guessed he could have asked if Ms. Bitters was too hard on her or something.

But wait, he spotted her! She was leaning against the wall up ahead, listening to music. As he got closer, he could hear her singing.

"…_Walked out this morning, don't believe what I saw_

_Hundred billion bottles, washed up on the shore_

_Seems I'm not alone in being alone_

_Hundred billion castaways, looking for a home_

_I'll send an S.O.S. to the world, I'll send an S.O.S…."_

Dib realized he had come to a stop and was just staring at her. Her eyes were closed, but it would be more than a little awkward if she looked over and saw him just watching her. "Hi Miira," he said.

She made no response. She must not have heard him over the music. He tapped her on the shoulder. "Hi," he said again.

Miira looked up and smiled. "Oh, hi. I didn't see you there," she said, taking her ear buds out.

"Was Ms. Bitters very hard on you? She always freaks me out."

"Oh, its fine." A touch of mischief stained her eyes. "We reached a sort of agreement."

They were silent for a moment.

"I like your singing." Dib couldn't think of much else to say.

"Thanks." Miira tilted her head to the side, her hair shifting slightly to the side. Dib saw an odd shape on her forehead.

"What's that?"

"What's what?"

"That mark on your forehead?" Dib was looking at it critically now.

Miira seemed to think for a moment. "It's a… birthmark." She parted her hair so he could see it better.

"Wow." he said. "That's a weird birthmark." The brown mark was sort of like a spiral, but in the general shape of a sharp curvy square instead of a circle.

"It's… kind of embarrassing," said Miira, trying to turn the subject away from the mark.

"Oh," said Dib. He didn't ask anything more about it, but he was absolutely sure the brown mark was anything but a birthmark.

...

...

...

*I do not own Message in a Bottle by The Police


	6. You make me cry

Chapter 6: You make me cry

Zim walked into his base. "GIR!" he called out. "Come here!"

GIR came and stood at attention, smiling like an idiot with his tongue hanging out. And what was that swirly blue thing above his eyes? It looked like he had banged his head on something, or got paint on it.

"GIR! What is that?" Zim pointed at the weird dented mark.

"It's a Rising!"

Zim stood there a moment, looking annoyed and a bit down. He, Zim, esteemed invader, should not have to deal with such idiocy.

"I'm gonna go get tacos!" GIR ran to the door.

"STOP!" Zim yelled. "There will be NO tacos. NO distractions. And last but not least, NO bashing your head on the furniture, or coloring it, or whatever you did."

GIR pouted. "But I didn't-"

"SILENCE, GIR. Now fetch me my ingenious box."

GIR started to the lab. "Aw," he said when Zim was out of hearing range. "Master's mad at me."

'It happens,' said a familiar voice in his head. 'Now get the box.'

GIR pulled away the tarp and carried the metallic box up to ground level. He stopped in front of Zim, holding the strange cube.

"Finally! The world will perish!" Zim started laughing. He turned around, and threw his head back, nearly howling in his happiness. He had finally done it. He had created the ultimate weapon against the humans. The box contained a series of rapidly reproducing microorganisms. Each one was fast spreading, and would destroy the set substance he had engineered it to feed off of. One culture ate wood, which would destroy earth's forests and homes. One culture ate metal, which would ruin the infrastructure of all major cities. And one culture ate oil, which was used as an energy source and in manufacturing.

Currently, the cultures were weak, and rapid changes in their environment could ruin them, but all it would take was the addition of a simple chemical and strengthened, they would eat through the box to take on the world.

While Zim was laughing, the voice spoke in GIR's head again.

'Can you hold the box up a bit higher? I can't quite see it.'

"OK!" GIR held it up a bit higher.

A string of electricity shot out of the spiral mark on GIR's head. It encased the box in fire, charring it and cooking its contents.

Zim had finished his little rave and turned to take the box from GIR. But the box was burnt! "GIR!" he howled. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE! The microorganisms! You killed them!"

"But I didn't-"

"Quiet, GIR. Thanks to you, I have to go back to the lab and come up with a NEW plan." Zim was so pissed. He stalked off to the lab, leaving GIR in the living room.

"You made master even madder at me," GIR accused the voice.

'Don't worry. He'll get over it.'

"You make me cry." Tears started welling up in GIR's mechanical eyes. It was occurring to him at that moment, after almost a year of existing, that no one was ever really nice to him. Why was he figuring this out now?

'Don't cry…'

"But Master's mad at me, and I don't know anyone else."

The voice was silent for a moment. 'You know that kid who tried to break in all those times.'

"That's not the point. He wasn't nice to me. He was trying to trick me and use me." GIR paused. He had just blurted that out, not even thinking, but now that he had said it, he could see it was true. "And my master… he uses me and then blames me for everything." GIR felt like his head was spinning. What was causing him to figure all this out now?

"Everyone uses me. Everyone. Even," he thought for a second. "Even you."

The voice didn't respond for a moment. 'I'm, um… I guess I'm sorry.'

"No one is nice to me. No one even likes me."

'Don't say that.'

GIR didn't say anything.

'I'll be nice to you.'

GIR was still silent.

'GIR?'

"You made me forget almost everything about you."

'I'm sorry.'

"You tampered with my memory."

'It was necessary.'

"And you put that chip in my head." He was stiff for a moment, thinking of how different he felt now compared to before he had met the voice… however he had met the voice. His memory fell short there.

"And that mark. Its part of something called the Rising. Every time I think about that mark, I see those two words: The Rising. And I'd very much like to know what they mean."

The voice didn't answer.

"Hello? I know you are there. Since it seems I'm being forcefully made a part of it, or implanted with it, or whatever the correct terminology is, I have a right to know. So tell me, what exactly is the Rising?"

At first the voice didn't say anything.

'Be careful, GIR. Don't try anything stupid.'

GIR felt the signal from the voice go dead.

…

PIR was sitting down, stunned. Holy crap. What had just happened? Every second she talked to that robot, she could hear it getting smarter and more perceptive. Members of the Rising had predicted inevitable war with the tallest, and had designed part of the Rising to reprogram robots that the Irken Empire would likely try to use to destroy them. SIRs were on the list. If a SIR was tagged with a part of the rising, it would become slow and dumb, feigning allegiance to the Irkens until finding the opportune moment to self destruct while causing the most damage.

The effect that the Rising was having on that robot was unheard of for a SIR. But then, he wasn't a SIR. He was GIR.


	7. Upgrades for GIR

Chapter 7: Upgrades for GIR

Zim floated in the dark. He could feel the glass cylinder around him, and the thick liquid that covered him. The only light in the room came from a set of eyes, irken by nature, but strange. He yelled at the eyes, screaming insanely. He demanded answers, freedom, anything he could think of. But the eyes simply watched him with a predator's hungry stare.

…

"Good morning, class," Ms. Bitters coiled around the room to her chair. "Let us take a moment to ponder the fact that you are all one day closer to the end of your miserable lives." There was a pause. "Good. Today we will be studying triple Gaussian integrals. Afterwards, I thought me might do a few differential equations."

The class was silent. A couple mouths fell open.

Dib jumped up on his desk. "But Ms. Bitters! We can't learn that stuff. That's- that's physics, isn't it?"

Miira sat back in her chair smugly. "Ha. Gauss was a hack."

"Silence, children!" Ms Bitters shot a meaningful glare at Miira.

Miira, smiling broadly, drew her thumb and forefinger in a zipping motion across her lips.

"So, class," continued Ms Bitters, "Let's start with a pop quiz, to test your knowledge on the subject." The class groaned.

…

It was recess. Miira was listening to music again, singing softly with the melody.

_"Once there was a way, to get back homeward_

_Once there a way, to get back home_

_Sleep pretty darling, do not cry_

_And I will sing a lullaby…"_

_"Miira," someone was saying. "Miira."_

She opened her eyes, coming out of her daze. "Witness it, Miira. Witness my victory!" Zim was standing over her, holding something.

"What are you-" Miira didn't even get a sentence in. A splash of cool clear liquid hit her face. She quickly leaned forward, letting her brown locks shield her reaction from sight. She brought her hands up, trying to wipe away the water that was already sizzling at her skin. She had to think fast. What would a human do here? What would cause a human to lean forward like that after having water poured on them?  
"OW! Zim you jerk, you splashed it in my eyes!" Her face hurt like hell, and her hands were starting to burn, but she managed to get most of the water off.

Dib ran up. "What was that for, Zim?" he demanded.

"Yes! Look at her!" Zim said. Miira raised her head to glare at him. "She's allergic to water! Look how red her face is!"

"My face is red because I'm PISSED at you." She hoped she was convincing.

"Go away, Zim," Dib said angrily.

Zim seemed to steam for a moment, and then he stalked off.

…

GIR felt himself drawn to the lab. Plans and blueprints of weapons and gadgets were teaming in his mind, and he understood that the piece of the rising that resided within him wanted him to upgrade himself with these inventions. He could have resisted, but in curiosity he completed these upgrades. When GIR focused on the Rising, he could also see plans for other things as well. It seemed some kind of data base had come with the chip. Unfortunately, he could only find information on what the Rising had produced, but nothing about the Rising itself.

GIR closed his eyes and focused on that other robot, trying to think of something that might give him a clue to find her.

…

PIR was sitting down in the living room when the door exploded. A blur knocked her off the couch and pinned her to the ground. "So," said the thing on top of her. "Tell me about the Rising, or I'll vaporize you."

PIR struggled. "I told you not to do anything stupid. You have proven to be a threat to my mission. Get off me and disarm yourself. How did you even find me?"

GIR narrowed his eyes. "This was the only house within miles that I couldn't remember having seen before. I think you underestimate me." Panels opened on his right arm, and cables snaked out attaching to his hand. Metal plating surged around his arm in one big cylinder, curving in smoothly and then back out to form a smooth ring at the end. Metal parts clicked into place within the cylinder, and the whole thing started to whine as it charged itself up.

PIR's eyes were wide. "But that's… my master designed that gun! How did you get it?"

"It's an upgrade."

PIR was speechless. How did he access the weapon files? All Irken technology was programmed with one of around five hundred base systems, and if the Rising detected any of them it would automatically delete important information, such as the weapon files, from the irken robot's chip. What was GIR? Did the tallest engineer a new advanced SIR, giving it a different base system?

"Fine. I'll tell you about the rising," said PIR.

"It's nice that you are going to be compliant, but unfortunately I won't believe a word you say." GIR touched the spiral marking on her head with his left hand.

'That's better,' he thought. 'I'll be able to confirm if you are telling the truth this way.'

'I agreed to tell you about it, and I will,' thought PIR. 'This changes nothing.'

'So you think. But I find it interesting that you are so willing to give up information to keep yourself from harm. As a standard robot, you should be disposable to the mission. If you are damaged, you can be repaired. If you are destroyed, who cares? Send in the replacement. But as soon as _you_ realize your safety is in jeopardy, you do whatever you can to save yourself. You spend a lot of time securing yourself. You haven't even left the base, doing all of your scanning and spying from here instead of somewhere where the process would be quicker and more effective. I can see that you are about to tell me that you have developed a sense of self preservation like living creatures, but I can see that isn't true. Why are you indispensable? What makes you special?'

PIR was silent, refusing to think of the answer.

'That's fine,' thought GIR. 'I was getting ahead of myself anyways; we can revisit that later. Let's start with something basic: What is the Rising?'


	8. Answers sort of

Chapter 8: Answers… sort of

School was over. Miira needed a break. A release. She ached and burned, after having to prove all day again and again that she was human. Zim had tried over and over to undo her disguise, using toxins of every description. Many of these poisonous substances had been on her home planet. Where she was from, water could be found in wide reflective pools that would lure you beneath their crystal currents and cascades to your death. These pools were called Aruvii, and it was common belief hat vast cities existed in their depths that were inhabited by trillions of drowned souls…

Miira shook her head. She would not think of her home. Lost somewhere, under a new name. What was it called now?

She rubbed her eyes. She refused to think about it. She needed a release. She pulled out her Ipod and scrolled through some songs, but it was no good. She could not lose herself in music as she normally might.

Miira suddenly had a burning desire to test the Rising. But that was crazy… was it safe to use her new abilities yet? Her full integration had been estimated to take nine to eleven months. It had been nine and a half months. She was over nine months… it should be fine. She headed to the school field, where she would wait until dark.

…

Zim watched Miira from behind a tree. She seemed to be waiting for something. What for? He would find out. Oh yes, he was determined to find out all about whatever scheme she was trying to pull. He had figured out where her base was earlier; the class had to fill out information for an upcoming fieldtrip and he had glimpsed her address. When he learned enough about her plans, whatever they may be, he would ambush her there. But for now he had to wait…

…

-slightly earlier-

GIR Pressed closer towards PIR. 'So, what is the Rising? Is it an organization, a technology, a code? It seems to fit in an awful lot of categories.'

PIR was silent.

'So, you have decided not to tell me after all?' GIR thought. 'What a shame. It seems I'll have to get the answers by force.' The whine of his weapon grew higher in pitch.

'Fine.' thought PIR hurriedly. 'The Rising is the name of many things that are one. The original 'rising' was simply a group of individuals who banded together in secret to organize the downfall of the tallest. It is much more complicated than that now.'

GIR gave a sort of laugh. 'So that's all the Rising is? Another odd bunch of fools prancing about in search of peace and happiness for the universe?'

PIR smiled slightly. 'Absolutely nowhere in that last statement did I mention peace or happiness for anyone.'

GIR paused. 'So you're an aspiring empire? Are you all insane?' His mind flitted through the tortures and agony that would befall any and all persons with such ambitions.

'If we were as insane as you now think, we would be out fighting the tallest in outdated machinery similar to the Armada. Ships such as the Armada will soon be useless against our war tactics.'

PIR was leaving out information. 'What do you mean? What tactics? Why is the Rising so complicated now?' GIR suddenly caught a hint. 'Why are you on this planet? What do you need earth for?'

PIR was checking the time. She was stalling… for what? GIR focused. He saw that she was counting down time until… until school was out. Until Miira would be back. And she was intensely certain that Miira would be able to fight him off. That was unsettling… what kind of weapons could Miira have?

'Answer me!' he thought.

PIR just smiled. School was scheduled to let out in less than fifteen minutes. 'You are an idiot,' she thought, 'Have you noticed the lack of defensive security measures around here? No lasers? No stupid gnomes? Want to know why? We don't need any. Want to know a little more about the Rising? Here's a bit of the technology and coding part. I'm sure you've already figured out part of what that sign is for on your head. It is for communication; oneness. But it also has other handy functions. For instance, in secondary life forms, in other words robots, it inspires you to upgrade yourself. In primary life forms, what we call living things, it does much more.'

GIR simply nodded at this. He got the point. Miira was coming home soon, and it would be best if he wasn't there when she arrived. He was running out of time to ask questions. 'What are your plans for earth?' he insisted.

'Take a wild guess.'

'An energy source? A base? What?'

'A base, of course.'

'What kind of base? Why on earth?'

PIR's expression was shark-like. 'The rising has to grow, GIR. It has to evolve. And it is about to become unstoppable.'

'But what kind of base is it? What are you going to do here?'

PIR smugly hid the answer.

GIR checked the time. Crap. About ten minutes until school was out, and he still had to erase any evidence that he had visited Miira's fortress. 'Well, PIR, you screwed with my memory, so I'm going to return the favor,' he thought, and disconnected from her mind. His arm quickly morphed into a smaller less threatening device which he immediately used to shoot electricity through PIR. It took her several minutes to reboot, in which time he uploaded a prewritten file into her memory and erased any hint that he had come to interrogate her. He also rewrote the end of their conversation the previous day, so that she did not know the Rising had improved his intellect. He quickly renewed and replaced the door, and was down the block before her eye-lights began to flicker on. He would wait at Zim's base, and act as normal as possible. For now, he wanted no one to know about his sudden transformation.


	9. Overload

Chapter 9: Overload

It was dark, and tiny stars twinkled overhead. Miira felt tremors run through her. She was going to test her abilities for the first time. She retracted her disguise and took out her contacts. Her earth clothing automatically folded itself revealing her silvery white clothes underneath. She put the earth garments in her backpack and stowed the bag in a nearby bush.

The field was lit by two lights on either end, but Miira was beyond caring if anyone saw her. She felt thrills running through her as she anticipated what she was about to do. Stepping into the center of the grass, she focused her mind on the sign, the Rising that seemed to live in her. Her piece of the Rising. She felt it pulse slightly, as if it had its own heartbeat. She matched her breathing to it, and closed her eyes. She felt it glowing, and a strange and exhilarating sensation flowed swiftly through her. She had already tested some of the Rising already, but that was only minor things like teleportation fazing within a set perimeter and connecting to PIR on occasion. She was about to test all of its abilities. All of them.

…

Zim watched from the tree. Miira had been sitting there for hours. His eyes began to drift shut, and he struggled to keep them open. There! Miira was moving. She stood and began to take off her disguise.

Zim had seen Miira without her earthling pig scum costume before, but only in complete darkness where she was in shadow. He was awestruck at how she looked now.

The dim light reflected in Miira's purple in blue eyes, and gently illuminated her perfect green skin. She held her antennae smoothly back against her head so that their curled ends almost touched her shoulders, and then suddenly perked them up in excitement. Her clothing was strange and feminine; it was not the normal stiff irken-style product. What Miira wore was completely white and more form fitting. Lines of silver ran about it, shimmering and blurring.

She was in the middle of the field now. What was she doing, undisguised and in plain sight? A dark green insignia began to pulse and glow on her head.

…

Miira felt energy rocketing through her. She felt wonderful. She danced from side to side slightly. Then, she was everywhere and nowhere, an army of one soldier who covered the entire field in a nanosecond. She disappeared and reappeared thirty feet in the air, and after falling almost to the ground, reappeared safely on her feet. For several seconds, she obsessed herself with bending light waves and sound waves. Fireworks howled in the air and colorful shadows moved across the lawn. She tested her improved balance and coordination, doing gymnastics in the trees and off the tall lamp posts. If she had looked down at just the right moment, she would have seen Zim lurking close to the ground.

Miira laughed now. Why was she amusing herself with these less impressive abilities? She would move on to things more serious now. And testing them out one by one would be too slow. She was going to try them all out at once.

Miira zipped to the center of the field, and once more began to concentrate.

…

Zim was watching Miira with his mouth open. She was ricocheting across the field, sometimes one being and sometimes one thousand. She exploded into light and danced over the trees- he realized suddenly that she did not have a pak. How was she doing any of this anyways? All of the sudden, she seemed to calm down again. With her antennae tilted forward, she closed her eyes again in the center of the field.

Once more, Zim was awestruck. She was truly beautiful, a perfect example of an irken. She looked so peaceful and innocent standing there, almost sweetly vulnerable. The slight breeze gently moved her antennae to and fro, and a smile crossed her lips. He leaned forward, trying to see her better.

Zim leapt back in terror. Lasers burned their way through the grass and scorched the wood of Zim's tree. The field was covered in piercing white light often sliced by beams of red and green. Gold glimmered in the air, sizzling like acid as it dissolved everything it touched. Magnificent destruction shattered the night, reverberating from the pinpoint that was Miira. Miira herself seemed to be changing all the time, blurring and vibrating violently. All Zim could think to do at the moment was curl up into a ball and wait for whatever was happening to stop.

…

Yes! Miira thought. She was fully integrated. The particular technology in the part of the Rising she possessed was fairly new, but definitely working. She applied more and more of her abilities. The air around her buzzed, and some of the field became littered with small contained circles of blue and green fire.

Suddenly, Miira felt herself slip. She didn't actually slip, as she wasn't walking, but rather, mentally something didn't quite click. She felt like she was falling infinitely, crashing downwards. In one second, she experienced more pain than many creatures do in a lifetime. It was as if she was compressing in on herself and being torn to pieces at the same time. She blacked out, slumping over in the blackened grass.

…

Silence and darkness unexpectedly returned to the night. Zim peered out from behind what was left of the tree. Miira was lying unconscious and unprotected. He scrambled over to her.

What would he do now? He would expose her as an alien. Yes… he would show her to Dib, and Dib-smell would perform all his dissections and experiments on her… no, he would give Dib proof, do his own tests on Miira, then hand her over to Dib for dissection… no, wait…

Zim stood for several minutes thinking of exactly how Miira would come to her demise. When he finally had her fate planned out in his mind, he threw his arms in the air and laughed.

"HA HA! VICTORY! VICTORY FOR-" he looked down at Miira, and felt his insides sink. She was sprawled helplessly before him, looking sad and defeated.

Zim sighed and softly kicked at her foot. He appeared exasperated and annoyed for a second, and then gathered her up in his arms.

It was a long walk to her base, but eventually they made it. Zim set Miira down lightly on the front porch, not wanting to have to explain himself to some killer robot protector he was sure waited inside. He glanced back at her limp form as he left the front walk, and silently made his way home.


	10. Such good friends

Chapter 10: Such great friends

PIR sat in the darkness of the base. Her sense of time was completely off. It seemed like the day had gotten late, but she only had a couple hours worth of data and scans saved since Miira had left. That would mean it would be in the early hours of the day. She looked out the window; it was dark outside. Did that mean it was earlier than she thought, or much later? She couldn't say.

Her master would be back soon, and could reset her internal clock. Or would she? She tried puzzle it out, and presently time ticked by. After several hours (or several minutes?) PIR had enough of guessing. She ran to get her disguise. It was poorly made and barely convincing, but then she had never been meant to wear it, as leaving the base was an extremely risky thing. Dressed as a cat, she ran to the door and stepped outside, nearly tripping over a strange lump on the front doorstep. She gave a small screech when she realized it was Miira.

…

Miira's eyes opened to an unexpected scene. She stood up disoriented and shaking. Had she been captured somehow? It took her a second to realize where she was. "How… how did I get here?"

"That's my question as well," said PIR from behind her. "Sit down before you fall over."

Miira sat. "What time is it?" she asked.

"No idea. A more important question. What were you doing in a coma out front?"

Miira rubbed her head. She was surprised at the iciness in PIR's tone. "I'm not sure. The last thing I remember was…" she thought for a moment. "Was when I was testing my abilities."

PIR froze. She cursed in a different language. "We need to abort the mission, or at the very least delay its continuation. Your piece of the rising was key- if it is malfunctioning, we need to take time to fix it."

"No," Mira said. "I don't think the Rising is malfunctioning. I am a perfect example of a fully integrated member. The Rising is flawless."

PIR made no show of emotion. "What happened then?"

Miira focused. "I think I made a mistake. I was trying all of the abilities-"

"Each individual process should work perfectly on its own. As I said, if the Rising is malfunctioning, we NEED to do something about it."

Miira sighed. "I wasn't using each one individually. I was sort of stacking them on top of each other, seeing how many things I could do at once."

No PIR unit had ever been recorded to have attacked its master. But for one stressed minute Miira feared that might change.

"You did what?" PIR spoke in a monotone, creating a statement out of the question. She twitched slightly. "Do you have any idea what you… what you might have done? You're lucky you aren't rolling around slobbering on the floor, brain-dead! If you really have some sort of complex in which you always have to be right, you always have to be superior to every other thing that moves, that's fine. But you are not some sort of super-being. You are a flesh creature, and the only thing that sets you apart from anybody else is that bit of technology in your head. Feel free to go on a stupid arrogant rampage when we have evolved the Rising so that it can actually handle that. We'll have the new Rising up and running about four days or so. You can wait that long, can't you? But in the mean time, DON'T SCREW UP THE DAMN MISSION."

Miira just sat there. At that moment, an alarm went off. It was nothing serious; just a reminder that it was eight thirty and time to head to skool.

"Well, we know what time it is," grumbled PIR, stalking off to the lab.

…

It was recess. The first half of the day ad been slow, but was thankfully over. Miira leaned against the wall. In her hands was an ingenious device; it was a scanner that looked like whatever you thought it would be. It mostly would keep the same basic shape of course, but would meld itself to fit its scan of your first impression. Since Miira knew what it really was however, it appeared to her undisguised.

She was using it to pinpoint and identify every piece of technology in the school yard. That was the next step of her mission: identifying the state and advancement of earth technology.

"What is that?" A very bored and uncaring looking girl with purple hair was standing a few feet to her right.

Miira looked down at the scanner. She held it up. "This? Look for yourself."

The purple haired girl's mouth fell open. In an instant she had snatched the scanner away from Miira and was pressing buttons rapidly.

"This is a Game Slave 3! It isn't supposed to be released for months. How did you get one?"

Miira shrugged. "I have connections." She made a mental note to always introduce the scanner as GS3 for consistency's sake. She waited for the girl to give the scanner back, but the human seemed to go on pressing buttons forever.

"What's your name?" Miira finally asked.

"Gaz."

"Last name?" Miira insisted.

"Membrane."

Miira paused. That name was very familiar. Where had she heard it before? She knew it was significant. That's it- she remembered him from her studies on her six month travel here. Dr. Membrane was supposed to be a great scientist, on the cutting edge of all earth technology.

Gaz stood with the scanner, oblivious to the world.

"You know," said Miira, "That game is very important."

Gaz made no response.

"I'm not supposed to let it out of my sight, since it hasn't been released yet." Miira placed one hand on the scanner.

Gaz looked up and glared at her, turning aggressive at even the hint that Miira might try to take it away.

"I'll make you a deal. I'm supposed to be testing and rating this GS3, but I've gotten bored with it. It would be great if someone volunteered to do it for me."

Gaz looked back down at the scanner.

"So… we can go to your house after school so that you can play the game and I can make sure that it doesn't get broken?"

"Sure whatever. Stop talking. Your voice is making me sick."

Miira smiled. "We're going to be such great friends."


	11. Lab slaves

Chapter 11: Lab slaves

Ms Bitter' class was doing a lab that day, so the entire class room was scrambled to pieces. Desks were in semi ordered groups, or simply thrown across the room. Children were grabbing test tubes in their grubby little hands, mixing chemicals and breaking equipment. Dib had given up a long time ago complaining to Ms. Bitters that they were all way too young to be starting chemistry.

When lab partners were being picked, Dib had just about jumped into Miira's arms. Within thirty seconds, everyone had gotten a partner, except Zim. He had looked rapidly about, until finally seeing un-partnered Sara, who had been trying to avoid doing the lab at all.

Dib and Miira sat at the front of the room, and Zim sat at the back, watching them. When he looked at Miira, he no longer saw her pig-human disguise, but envisioned her beautiful irken self. He had wondered all night (literally, he hadn't slept at all) why he hadn't captured her and made her a prisoner. It made no sense; why would he, superior _Zim_ let go of a perfect victory?

"Hey!" said Sara angrily. "ZIM! You aren't helping at all! Am _I_ going to have to do _everything_ myself?"

Zim turned to her. "SILENCE, lab slave. OF COURSE you will be doing the work." He quickly whipped his head back to Dib and Miira.

"ZIM!" Sara yelled.

Zim was now watching Dib. Dib was sitting there with his head resting in his hands. A numb, dreamy look had tattooed itself on his face as he was watching Miira work.

Zim raised his never present eyebrow. "Why is Dib-smell acting especially stupid today?" he consulted his lab-slave.

Sara looked over and sized Dib up. With a smirk, she looked back at Zim. "Ugh. It looks like supernatural-pants likes Miira."

Zim raised his 'eyebrow' again. "What do you mean, lab-slave?"

Sara leaned forward. "I think Dib has a crush on Miira. I think he likes-likes her."

Zim still didn't get it. "Eh? Zim wants to crush Miira, but likes to like her?" He turned and shook his three fingered fist at Dib. "He will never get the chance to crush her!" he hissed in a strained voice.

"No, Zim. Gosh you're stupid. He thinks he _loves_ her."

Zim looked like he might explode. "HE WHAT? I'LL CRUSH HIM INTO THE DIRT AND THEN YANK OUT HIS INFERIOR STUPID DOOKY ORGANS WITH AN- erm…" The entire class had turned to look at him, with the exception of Dib, who was still busy gazing at Miira. "I mean…I _love _chemistry. I'M NORMAL!" Zim quickly turned back to Sara. The class returned to babbling away and blowing test tubes of liquid up in each other's faces.

"Geez, Zim, judging by that outburst, I'd say you like her, too," said Sara.

"ZIM DOES NOT LO-" Zim stopped and thought about it for a second.

Sara smirked again. "Ha. You do like her, Zim."

Zim sat there a moment. "What do I do?" he asked. It was really a question directed towards himself, but Sara answered anyways.

"I don't think there is much _to_ do, loser. If Miira for some reason miraculously decided to lower her social status down to your level in order to like one of you two, she would probably pick Dib."

"WHAT? How could anyone possibly resist the absolute superior-nes that is ZIM?"

Sara yawned. "See, that would be how. You're so full of yourself all the time. You need to realize that other people mater, too."

Zim was confused. "Eh?"

At that moment, the end-of-the-day bell rang. Zim watched Dib get up to leave.

"Hey, Dib!" Zim yelled. Dib was already in the hallway. Zim ran after him. "Dib! DIB!" The Dib-slime turned around. Zim punched him in the face, and the earthling fell over, unconscious. Zim stalked out of the school, leaving Dib laying there in the hallway.

…

Gaz and Miira walked to the Membrane household in silence. Or near silence, as Miira's scanner was making a variety of lovely beeping and screaming noises.

The house was plain and boring outside and in, but Mira didn't really care about the actual home. She made sure Gaz was properly distracted with the scanner, and then went looking for the lab. When she found it, she immediately delved into the scientific journals that were scattered around. She immersed herself in Earth's most advanced information. She sped through every document at twenty times the speed of any human, and when she was done, moved on to study the odd machinery that surrounded her.

…

Dib walked home, wiping at the dried blood by his nose. Zim had punched him and knocked him out Why? He hadn't taken him hostage at his base. He hadn't done some horrible scientific experiment on him leaving him tragically deformed. What was Zim's purpose for attacking him?

He opened the front door, and stepped inside. Gaz was sitting on the couch in the living room, playing a game slave, no doubt. "I'm home, Gaz!" he called.

"Shut up, Dib!" she replied.

Dib stalked into the room and turned on Mysterious Mysteries. Behind the living room, Miira emerged from the lab. She was surprised to see Dib, but kept silent, deciding to sneak unseen out of the house.


End file.
